Cf lAf.XII.

from the Revolution to the

liam.

formed,, that the Ship which gave theAlarm were only Danes, or Swedes ,and from thence to repair to ‘Torbay,with the sixty nine Ships, of the Lineof Battle, which were then in Company,five and forty whereof were Englijh andfour and twenty Dutch. There theyarrived, the one and twentieth of June,in great Want of several Species of Pro-visions ; But more especially Beer, But-ter, and Cheese, and a Council of Warwas called, the three and twentieth, ( h)upon Commands from Her Majesty,concerning Sir George Rooke , it beingapprehended that he might be in Dan-ger from the French Fleet, as indeed ithappened.

About this Time, Advice came fromof th e the Consul of Oporto , dated the ninthof J me 3 that, on the first: of that\ Month, an Express arrived at Lisbon ,

V 6 ' from the Algarve, with an Account,that Monsieur Tourville , with theFrench Fleet, consisting of feventy-fiveShips of War, and several other Shipsand Vessels, in all to the Number ofone Hundred and fourteen, were comeinto the Bay of Lagos , between CapeSt. Vincent and Faro. It was said, thatat first they strewed Englijh Colours, andsome of them Dutch, and that by Eng-lijh-men sent on Shoar, they pretendedto be of those Nations; But that, thenext Day, the Governour fending onBoard of the Admiral, he insinuated asif he had been forced in there by bad

16

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J’ves i ns °rbay.

'Oir.p ‘

Weather, and that he intended to failthe following Morning ; Tho’ doubtlesshis real Design was to intercept ourShips of War, and their Convoys.

B e s i b e s this Intelligence, an expresswas sent to the Bistiop of Algarve, withAdvice that the Count d'EJlrees was join-ed with Monsieur de Fourville, and thatthe whole Body of the French Fleetfeem’d to stand off to Sea, in Order firstto double Cape St. Vincent, and then toproceed Northward: Besides which,there was Advice at Cadiz, that theyhad been discovered in Lagos Bay, thesixth of June, in all about one Hundredand twenty Sail, of which seventy weregreat Ships, together with sixteen Fire-Ships, and six Bomb Vessels, and thattwenty of them were. cruising West-ward. (i)

The first of July, the Flag Officerssubmitted it to Her Majesty, whetherit might be adviseable for the Fleet, toproceed to Lisbon, because, if theFrench were joined, and failed North-ward, the Coast of England would beexposed to Insults, (k)

The Orders sent Sir George Rooke ,for his Government (of which Mentionis made in the Note (s) not being dis-patched ’till the third of June, couldnot postibly reach him in Time, as weshall now see, by the Account we aregoing to give of Sir George Rcoke’sProceedings, after he had parted withthe Main Fleet.

1

8 I

CHAP.

{h) It was, by this Council, determined, toproceed to Lisbon , in Order to join him ; But itwas found, upon strict Enquiry, they had notProvisions to enable them so to do. Nevertheless,since it was judged, that the Mediterranean Squa-dron did greatly require the Assistance of theFleet,it was resolved to proceed in Search of the Ene-my, if the Provisions could, in fourteen Days, becompleated to ten Weeks, at whole Allowance.

(V) These Advices reaching theE^/i/H Court,the Lords of the Admiralty sent Orders to theAdmiral, on the three and twentieth of June, todistribute the expected Provisions equally, as soonas it arrived, and to cause each Captain to take onBoard what Water he could, in as much as itwas probable the Service might require theFleet’scontinuing at Sea, a considerable Time; And Di-rections were given to the Commiffioners for Vic-tualling, to provide as fast as possible they could,and hasten to the Fleet, what Provisions werethen stripped off; For, at that Time, what theyhad on Board would not suffice longer than ishereafter mentioned, according to the Computa-tion made thereof by the Agent to the said Com-missioners.

Bread 'till August id.

Beer July 2i.

Beef Sept. 13.

Pork Aug. 1 < 5 .

Pease Sept. 13.

Oatmeal Aug. 16.

Butter Sept. 13.

Cheese Sept. 13.

(k) They added 5 That what before inducedthem to propose going thither, was for the Secu-rity of Sir George Rooke, and theMerchant-slsips,and to proceed with him farther, or accompanyhim home, as it should be thought most proper :But since Orders were sent to him to return, itwould be very uncertain where to meet with him ;Besides, they were of Opinion, that Her Maje-sty’s Orders to him being very full, there was noOccasion for the making any Additions to them,since he was thereby directed, if he found himselfobliged to go into the River of Lisbon, and thathe received certain Intelligence, during his Staythere, that the L’oulon Squadron had joined theRest of their Fleet, and were gone togetherNorthward from off of the Coast of Portugal, to

hava

1693.